Portable football goal post

ABSTRACT

A portable, knockdown football goal post employing a plurality of straight pipe sections to form a U-shaped upright having a cross-bar and a pair of upright members. The U-shaped upright is supported by a pair of vertical support members having their upper ends attached to the cross-bar of the U-shaped upright. Intermediate the ends of the vertical supports is attached an elongated brace member having one end attached to a vertical support, the brace member being parallel to and in the same plane as the cross-bar. The lower end of each vertical support is attached intermediate the ends of an elongated base member, each base member lying in a plane perpendicular to the plane containing the cross-bar and brace member. The uprights, crossbar, vertical support members, brace member and base support members are appropriately water tight. A liquid is placed inside the goal post as a weighting substance.

United States Patent [191 Cunningham et al.

[451 Sept. 30, 1975 1 1 PORTABLE FOOTBALL GOAL POST [22] Filed: Jan. 29,1974 [21] Appl. No.: 437,680

[52} U.S. Cl 273/55 R [51] Int- Cl. A63B 67/00 [58] Field of Search273/55 R, 55 B; 272/59 C; 46/16, 17, 27, 28, 29; 182/181; 211/177Pllllllll) Evaminer-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Evaminer-T. BrownAttorney, Agent, or Firm-John B. Dickman, 111

l 5 7 ABSTRACT A portable, knockdown football goal post employing aplurality of straight pipe sections to form a U-shaped upright having across-bar and a pair of upright members. The U-shaped upright issupported by a pair of vertical support members having their upper endsattached to the cross-bar of the U-shaped upright. Intermediate the endsof the vertical supports is attached an elongated brace member havingone end attached to a vertical support, the brace member being parallelto and in the same plane as the cross-bar. The lower end of eachvertical support is attached intermediate the ends of an elongated basemember, each base member lying in a plane perpendicular to the planecontaining the cross-bar and brace member. The uprights, cross-bar.vertical support members, brace member and base support members areappropriately water tight. A liquid is placed inside the goal post as aweighting substance.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 1 of23,908,992 A US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 2 on 3,908,992

PORTABLE FOOTBALL GOAL POST BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game offootball, either touch or tackle, has fast become one of the largestparticipant sports in the country.

In the past the game was mostly limited to the High School, College, orProfessional Leagues which had their own static installations ofstadiums, playing and practice fields.

The tremendous growth of the Pop Warner type leagues, which have openedthe sport to almost any person with a desire to play, has created ademand for playing fields which far surpassed the availability of thesestatic installations.

As a consequence the small leagues have made use of many open areaswhich were available to them and which had adequate dimensions. Thissatisfies the requirement for a playing surface but does not provide theother necessary equipment such as goal posts. In some instances it hasbeen found that owners of these open areas have no objection to theirbeing used as playing surfaces but do not want any permanantinstallations made on them. Also a permanantly installed goal post issubject to vandalism which puts an unneeded requirement on the usuallylimited finances of these small leagues.

In choosing a rigid lightweight plastic as the material for the goalpost components any repairs to them may be accomplished by solventwelding and a replacement of any part is relatively inexpensive.

Also a goal post of the type described may be used by individuals fortheir own amusement which need not be a team sport.

Therefor an obivous need for this type of a portable football goal postexists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention generally concerns football goalposts and more specifically a portable knockdown football goal postconstructed of easily'assembled and disassembled units which facilitatesits transportation to its site of use.

It is also an object of this invention to construct the goal post froman inexpensive, strong, lightweight material which may be easilyreplaced or repaired if it is damaged.

It is a further object of this invention to provide fluid tight jointsbetween the units which will allow a complete or partial filling of theassembly with a fluid which will add stabilizing weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The preferred embodyment of thepresent invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view;

FIG. 2 is a front view; and

FIG. 3 is a side view.

FIG. 4 is a cut away section taken from line 4 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODYMENT A portable knockdown footballgoal post assembly comprises a U-shaped cross bar sub-assembly 11 andtwo ground abutting support sub-assemblies 12.

The cross bar sub-assembly 11 comprises a first horizontal rod 13engaged at each end in tee connectors 14,

second horizontal rods 15 engaged in tee connectors 14 and ninety degreeelbow connectors 16, vertical rods 17 engaged in ninety degree elbowconnectors 16 and closed at their extreme ends by rod caps 18.

The ground abutting support sub-assemblies 12 comprises first horizontalground abutting rods 19 closed at their extreme ends by rod caps 20 andengaged at their inboard ends in first tee connectors 21, first verticalrods 22 engaged in first tee connectors 21 and second tee connectors 23,second vertical rods 24 engaged in second tee connectors 23 and in teeconnectors 14 of the cross bar sub-assembly 11.

A horizontal brace rod 25 joins the sub-assemblies 12 by engaging in theinward facing legs of second tee connectors 23.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the horizontal ground abutting rods 19 aresubstantially perpendicular to the axis of the U shaped cross barsub-assembly l l.

In the preferred embodyment the material for the goal post is round,hollow, lightweight, rigid plastic but any suitable material such asaluminum or steel could be used. Also the geometric shape of the rodscould be square or oblong.

Where the hollow rods are used, the joints between the rods and theconnectors and caps may be made fluid tight whereby all or a portion ofthe goal post may be filled with water 26 to add weight for addedstability.

I claim:

1. A stable, portable knockdown goalpost assembly comprising:

a. a U-shaped cross bar sub-assembly having a first horizontal hollowrod engaged at each end in a tee connector, second horizontal hollowrods engaged in said tee connectors and ninety degree elbow connectors,vertical hollow rods engaged in said ninety degree elbow connectors, andsaid vertical hollow rods closed at their extreme ends by rod caps;

b. two ground abutting support sub assemblies, each said sub assemblyhaving first horizontal ground abutting hollow rods closed at theirextreme ends by rod caps and engaged at their inboard ends in a firsttee connector, a first vertical hollow rod engaged in said first teeconnector and a second tee connector, a second vertical hollow rodengaged in said second tee connector and in said tee connector of saidU-shaped cross bar sub-assembly;

c. a horizontal hollow brace rod joining said two ground abuttingsupport sub assemblies by engaging in the inward facing legs of saidsecond tee connectors;

. said ground abutting rods of said two ground abutting support subassemblies being positioned substantially perpendicular to the axis ofsaid cross bar assembly;

e. each said hollow rod, said tee connector, said ninety degree elbowconnector and said rod cap being joined in fluid tight, disengageableengagement; and

f. a stabilizing weight of water within said goal post assembly.

1. A stable, portable knockdown goalpost assembly comprising: a. aU-shaped cross bar sub-assembly having a first horizontal hollow rodengaged at each end in a tee connector, second horizontal hollow rodsengaged in said tee connectors and ninety degree elbow connectors,vertical hollow rods engaged in said ninety degree elbow connectors, andsaid vertical hollow rods closed at their extreme ends by rod caps; b.two ground abutting support sub assemblies, each said sub assemblyhaving first horizontal ground abutting hollow rods closed at theirextreme ends by rod caps and engaged at their inboard ends in a firsttee connector, a first vertical hollow rod engaged in said first teeconnector and a second tee connector, a second vertical hollow rodengaged in said second tee connector and in said tee connector of saidU-shaped cross bar sub-assembly; c. a horizontal hollow brace rodjoining said two ground abutting support sub assemblies by engaging inthe inward facing legs of said second tee connectors; d. said groundabutting rods of said two ground abutting support sub assemblies beingpositioned substantially perpendicular to the axis of said cross barassembly; e. each said hollow rod, said tee connector, said ninetydegree elbow connector and said rod cap being joined in fluid tight,disengageable engagement; and f. a stabilizing weight of water withinsaid goal post assembly.